The dragons are back! Join us for an exciting season delving into new writing topics and speculative fiction takes.

This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the 'nice guy' trope. While the term is relatively new, the character type is not, cropping up in Shakespeare, Austen and even in folklore. While this was a character archetype introduced originally to balance the over-muscled, over-sexed and under-brained macho male lead of the seventies and eighties, writers took their collective eye off the ball and things went south pretty quickly. So what is a 'nice guy' and why does something so innocuous sounding carry so much collective dirt? Find out in part one of a two part episode.

On the slab this week: Friends, Little Women - L M Montgomery, Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing and many more.

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

As we bid adieu to 2024, the dragons are once again looking back on a year of news. There have been some definite low points, however there has also been a lot of good news this year which may have gone unremarked. Jules and Madeleine are redressing that balance with a selection of good news stories, scientific discoveries and reminiscences on their favourite books and films of the year. Join us for a hopeful episode as we gear up for taking 2025 by the horns.

(This is the last episode of 2024 but we will be back in February after a short break)

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

It's that time of year again: frantic last minute shopping, swearing at rolls of Sellotape, covering fir trees with bling....and the dragons emerge with a festive folkloric offering that adds a bit of shadow to the season.

This year Jules and Madeleine take a look at the strange relationship between Christmas and witchcraft. If that sounds implausible, stick around - there is a bizarre logic behind it. As with many folkloric traditions, the Christmas witch goes back centuries but some of the modern iterations bring a new level of horror to the tradition. We remember Father Christmas but forget Perchta. We tell stories about St Nicholas but forget St Lucy and her alter Ego, Bloody Lucy. And just who led the wild hunts during Saturnalia and later the twelve days of Christmas? Find out in a special festive episode.

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic